When I lived in Canberra, this blog was a diary of my lunchtime adventures in the Australian National Botanic Gardens. Seeing so many interesting things each lunchtime gave me the idea to practice my photography and share my experiences. In 2011 I moved to Brisbane and gained a position as a research scientist at CSIRO. This blog follows my latest adventures as I learn about the wonderful wildlife in this region.

Tuesday, 23 March 2010

A Mighty Dragon

At the weekend I spent a very peaceful Sunday afternoon in a quiet corner of the garden with my knitting, while Edd (my partner) was at work at Tidbinbilla. I found a lovely bench surrounded by wattle bushes and saw plenty of birds, including a Gang-gang CockatooCallocephalon fimbriatum. A family of cheeky Kangaroos were nearby, nibbling on the flora - lucky for them no gardeners were near! But, unfortunately I ignored the golden rule on Sunday - no camera! So, I returned to this great spot in the garden today (high up above the rock garden, looking across the city to mount Ainslie) to see what would visit...

It wasn't long before a small gang of Eastern SpinebillAcanthorhynchus tenuirostris appeared. As they were flitting from branch to branch it was tricky to get a picture, but this one came out ok:

These birds feed on nectar, of which there seems to be an abundant supply in the gardens at the moment. A constant buzzing can be heard as bees gorge themselves on BottlebrushCallistemon and Grevillea beadleana, both pictured below (with bees!). The Grevillea beadleana is a rare and endangered plant from Northern NSW, thought to be extinct until rediscovered in the 1970s!

My favourite encounter this lunchtime had to be this large Water Dragon. I love taking pictures of reptiles, they are so beautiful with their amazing patterned skin that nearly always takes a great photo, and best of all, they usually like to stay still and pose for me!

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Brisbane Adventures/Lunchtime Adventures is part of the Nature Blog Network

About Me

My name is Dr Hazel Parry and I work for CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences as a Research Scientist. I specialise in spatial ecology and ecological modelling.
My research interests include: agent-based and individual-based modelling, computer simulation of crop pest population dynamics and dispersal, grid computing, geographical information systems, environmentally sensitive farming and predicting the implications of policy and environmental change for agricultural landscapes.
Publications